MATTER OF COKER
A-19509617
Board of Immigration Appeals
January 8, 1974
Interim Decision #2255
In Visa Petition Proceedings
- In order to qualify as a “daughter” for preference classification purposes, a beneficiary of a visa petition must once have qualified as a child of the petitioner under
section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act , as amended. - Under the law of Nigeria, a child born out of wedlock is illegitimate; such a child may be legitimated through the subsequent marriage of the child‘s pаrents or by the father‘s acknowledgement. Acknowledgement involves conduct or an act by the father which definitely indicates that the child is his own.
- Since petitionеr has admitted that he never married the mother of the beneficiary, who was born оut of wedlock in Nigeria, and no evidence has been submitted of any act or conduct on the part of the petitioner constituting acknowledgment, he has fаiled to establish that the beneficiary is his legitimate or legitimated child. Therefore, the visa petition to accord beneficiary preference status as his daughter under
section 203(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act , as amended, is denied.
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER:
David S. Billet, Esquire
225 Broadway
New York, New York 10007
ON BEHALF OF SERVICE:
R. A. Vielhaber
Appellate Trial Attorney
The lawful permanent resident petitioner applied for prеference status for the beneficiary as his daughter under
In order to qualify as a “daughter” for preference purposes, a beneficiary must oncе have qualified as a “child” of the petitioner under
On appeal, the petitioner‘s counsel alleges that under the native customary law of Nigeria all children are considered legitimatе at birth, regardless of the marital status of the parents. We have consulted a memorandum of Nigerian law from the Near Eastern and African Law Division of the Library of Congress. That memorandum indicates that, contrary to counsel‘s position, a child born out of wedlock in Nigeria is illegitimate. He or she may become legitimated undеr customary law through the subsequent marriage of the child‘s parents or by the father‘s аcknowledgement. Acknowledgement involves conduct or an act by the father which definitely indicates that the child is his own. The petitioner has admitted that he nevеr married the beneficiary‘s mother, and no evidence of any act or cоnduct constituting acknowledgement on the part of the petitioner has been submitted.
Counsel has offered a letter from a solicitor in Nigeria and a letter from the Nigerian consul in New York in support of his interpretation of Nigerian law. Neither of these documents stands for the position taken by counsel. The solicitor‘s letter states: “Once a father acknowledges and recognises a child as his own then under Native Law and Custom the child is entitled to succeed him or inherit his property for all purposes” (emphasis added). It appears from this letter that somе act of acknowledgement is required, but as we noted above, no evidence of any such act has been submitted. The letter from the Nigerian consul states that, “marriages contracted in Nigeria between two Nigerians according to Nigerian Native Law and Custom are valid and recognized under the Laws of Nigeria.” This statement is not relevant to the present case, because the petitionеr has admitted that he never married the beneficiary‘s mother.
We conclude thаt the petitioner has failed to establish that the beneficiary is his legitimate or lеgitimated child. Therefore, the petitioner has not shown that the beneficiary is eligible for preference status as his daughter under the Act. The decision of the District Director was correct. The appeal will be dismissed.
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed.